Thursday, February 25, 2010

I spent several posts talking about why Republicans should have declined the invitation to attend this meeting as constituted and that they should have offered instead to meet on jobs and spending. It would seem that my worst fears regarding this bit of kabuki theatre did not come to pass. By all accounts, this was not a PR victory for Obama - despite the fact that Obama allotted 2/3rd's of the time to himself and his Congressional Democrats. Clearly, the Republicans who showed at the event had some very clear points to make, chief among them Rep. Paul Ryan.

Update: Having just watched Frank Lunz's focus group and a Democratic pollster on Hannity, it would seem I was completely wrong. The Republicans made a significant impression, the President did not, and an overwhelming majority in the focus group, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, wanted to see the current health care bill tossed and the whole thing renegotiated rather than see the current bill rammed through using reconciliation.